Pÿlon, a Swiss Doom Metal are out with their 7th Studio album, A Lament. The album was released on 29th July 2016, under the label of Roxx records in the US and Quam Libet records in Europe. Before I start with my review on this album, let me tell you, that this Is the first album I’ve ever heard from them, and to be honest, I did not know what to make of it. (But don’t miss reading the conclusion..)
The first song, “Cosmik Lizard”, has an absurd start, slow chugging guitars, rhythmic lyrics, undertone growls (which are not very obvious at first but catches on), and prolonged vocal stretches. Before I could fathom and imbibe their style, the next song, “Desolation is Divine” is queued in. Strangely this song starts with obtuse vocals, tempo slower than usual, and now the prominent undertone growls compliments well with the original vocal style on the song. The solos feel very out of place as its almost triple the tempo of the song. Till now I feel that their songs lack good arrangements and are a little haphazard.
Matt Brand’s vocals on this album sounds heavily inspired by Ozzy Osbourne, and its hard to shake it off. The third song, “The Day After The War” has a pretty decent song arrangement, the slow beating drums along with the vocals, sets a definition for Doom on this song. It has a guest guitarist Ian Arkely shredding, again what I feel are on a higher tempo than what’s required from the song.
With “Pantodynamos”, I found some elements of melody on the guitars and chorus. Now here is a guitar solo that fits really well but ends abruptly, this song deserves some definite repeats. “Lazarus”, attempts to take on a progressive style, makes one believe that Pÿlon are willing to experiment with the genre. The song has multiple facets and surprisingly they all come in together perfectly, while the clean segments of the song in the mid and towards the end are chummy.
The Bass intro on the “Fair Haven of Thesterness”, is quite epic and the verse on this song goes really well the guitar riffs, and is definitely catchy. The face melting guitar solo with the ecstatic drum fills are maddening.
Finally with “Lone rider”, we are introduced to one of the heaviest songs on the album, it feels that “Black Sabbath” was resurrected with this song, one of my favourite guitar solo, pushes you to an abyss, and what a fall it is.
The album finishes off with the self-titled track, “ A Lament”, an instrumental with choir like hymns.
Production – The album feels very raw, the tones are not well balanced, with the guitars being really loud and subdued drums (only the cymbals can be distinctly
heard). The songs are on a lower tempo, which is the textbook definition of Doom, the album tries to offers something new to the genre.
Conclusion – This album doesn’t really catch you at first, but with repetitive listening (I’m sure you will do too), it grows on you and gets you hooked on to their ingenious style which takes a while to understand.
Rating: 6.5/10
Written by: Ankit Sood
Track Listing:
1. Cosmik Lizard 5:35
2. Desolation is divine 6:30
3. The day after the war 5:19
4. Pantodynamos 6:19
5. Lazarus 9:34
6. Fair haven of thesterness 6:08
7. The lone rider 6:46
8. A lament 2:07
Band Members:
Matt Brand – Lead Vocals & Guitars
Oliver Schneider – Guitars
Damir Eskic – Guitars
Ian Arkley – Guitars
Jam Thomas – Keyboards
Reto Hardmeier – Bass
Beni Mayer – Drums
Andrea Tinner – Drums
Record Label: Roxx Records, July 2016
Discography:
“Natural Songbirth” (2004)
“Th’ Eternal Wedding Band” (2006)
“Doom” [2009)
“Armoury Of God” (2011)
“The Harrowing Of Hell” (LP) (2012)
“The Harrowing Of Hell” (CD) (2013) [review]
“Empyrean Rose” – My Silent Wake / Pÿlon (split) [review]
“Homo Homini Lupus” (2014) [review]
Weblinks: Website / Facebook / Indiegogo
An Interview with Pÿlon [Jan. 2014]
Buy the album here:
Holland: First Paradox
Norway: Nordic Mission
Video below: ‘Cosmik Lizard’